Quentin Tarantino's Spanish recommendations can be reconstructed from specific interviews. His comments about Pedro Almodovar, Jesus Franco, and Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi make it possible to outline a selection without inventing a ranking of all Spanish-language cinema from Latin America.
Almodovar: two films and two different moments
In September 2009, during the presentation of Inglourious Basterds in San Sebastian, Tarantino singled out Bad Education as his favorite Pedro Almodovar film. EFE reported the statement on September 18. He also said he would include the Spanish director among the best filmmakers of the previous two decades. It was an assessment made at that time, not an updated ranking of all his later work.
Bad Education, released in 2004, combines a reunion between former classmates, a written narrative, and a film within the film. The identity of the person telling the story changes the way it is understood. As a critical observation, that mechanism offers a point of contact with Tarantino's interest in narrators who control information. There is no need to turn that resemblance into the literal reason for his choice, which the brief news item does not explain.
In an interview by Jacinto Anton for El Pais published in April 2023, Tarantino revisited Matador. He clarified that he liked it a lot without claiming it was Almodovar's best work. He highlighted the boldness he perceived in its mix of sexuality and violence compared with 1980s American cinema. The distinction matters: preferring one film in 2009 and celebrating another in 2023 does not require reconstructing a competition between the two.
Matador is especially useful for understanding the clash of tones he admires: it can deal with desire, death, guilt, and humor without keeping them in separate compartments. That reading of the film helps place the comment. The development of the admiration Tarantino has for Pedro Almodovar belongs to its own specific profile.
Jesus Franco and Isasi: other forms of Spanish cinema
The 2009 EFE report also notes Tarantino's interest in Jesus Franco and his rediscovery of Franco's films on DVD. That detail confirms an exploration of the director's filmography. It does not allow us to choose a favorite title for him from among Franco's many works: examples mentioned in a news story to describe a career do not automatically become the interviewee's recommendations.
Franco represents a different tradition from the one associated with Almodovar. His cinema moved through popular genres and markets, with a special presence of horror and eroticism. The culture of exploitation cinema helps explain why that filmography might interest a viewer who does not organize his tastes solely around critical prestige.
In the 2023 El Pais interview, Tarantino also declared himself an admirer of Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi and praised Christopher Mitchum in For a Few Dollars to Kill, internationally known as Summertime Killer. This is a concrete example of his attention to revenge cinema. The reference broadens the selection beyond a single Spanish-language auteur, without requiring all the titles to share language, style, or production circuit.
What can be called a Latin American recommendation
A director's origin, a film's language, and the countries involved in its production are different criteria. A European co-production made for the international market does not automatically represent all Spanish-language cinema. Likewise, a Mexican or Argentine film needs its own attribution before it can be added to a list of Tarantino favorites.
In the verified statements discussed here, there is no general ranking of Latin American cinema. Adding Mexican cult titles just because they seem compatible with his tastes would produce an editor's selection presented as if it were his. The verifiable answer is narrower: Bad Education, Matador, and For a Few Dollars to Kill have identifiable praise; admiration for Jesus Franco is documented without that source naming a favorite film.
See the selection of Tarantino-recommended films.